Buffalo Chicken Pasta Salad

Every once in a while, I make something I love enough to blog immediately. Which is a big deal considering how little I blog, or cook for that matter, lately. 

I needed a salad to take to the church camp out tonight and wanted something a little unique, not potato or green, and obviously delicious. I browsed Pinterest for pasta salad ideas and narrowed it down to a chicken Caesar pasta salad or a buffalo chicken pasta salad. Hubby voted buffalo chicken so I started here (http://jessfuel.com/2012/08/14/buffalo-chicken-pasta-salad/) and as always took lots of liberties and made it my own. 

The dear hubby hates celery, so right off the bat I decided to omit the classic buffalo chicken veggie and I happened to replace it with green pepper because I had 4 giant ones sitting in my veggie drawer. Then I decided it needed more veggies and more color so I added more veggies based on what I had - tomatoes, olives, green onion, and of course the classic carrot. I also think it would be good with cucumber or basically any vegetable you like or have.  

I wanted the chicken to have more of a buffalo flavor so I soaked it in the buffalo sauce before putting it on the salad. I also used my home canned chicken because it's simple and handy. Leftover rotisserie, breaded or simply cooked chicken breast would be equally delicious. 

I also used ranch instead ofblue cheese dressing because I always have it on hand and decided lots of blue cheese crumbles would have a better effect. If I had blue cheese dressing I would just as well have used it. 

I opted for frank's red hot wing buffalo sauce. 

I had a jar of the classic franks red hot but wanted a true buffalo flavor. I don't actually know the difference and couldn't tell much when I tasted them side by side. The heat level can be controlled with the amount of buffalo sauce. I made mine on the medium side- too spicy for most of my kids and not spicy enough for Tom and I. Frank's also has a hot buffalo sauce. That might be the choice for spicy lovers without too much vinegar flavor. 

I'm super happy with how the salad turned out. Maybe it's because I'm super hungry right now. And the true test will be how it fares at the camp out tonight. 

Buffalo chicken pasta salad 

One box of pasta, cooked al dente

3/4-1 cup each -green onions, olives (1 can, halved), carrots, green pepper, tomatoes, blue cheese

2 cups of cooked chicken soaked in buffalo sauce (canned, breaded, breasts)

One Cup ranch or blue cheese dressing

1/4 plus cup buffalo sauce to taste

More blue cheese to top

Cook and cool the pasta. Prepare veggies and cheese crumbles and set aside. Mix chicken with buffalo sauce to taste. Start small and add more. Mix dressing with an additional 1/4 c or so buffalo sauce. Combine pasta with veggies, cheese and chicken. Mix in dressing. Top with more cheese. Serve nice and cold. 

Pear Crisp for the "Clean" Eater

I've been making a real effort to eat a lot cleaner. I am trying to cut most processed food in general. I'm trying to eat almost no white flour. And I'm doing my best to cut out processed sugar. It's all hard, but we take baby steps as a family. 

I am making a real effort to just not buy the junky processed food at the store. Very few boxes, frozen dinners, and canned food make it in the house these days.  We've switched to Annie's organic Mac and cheese. I skip the frozen dinner aisle at Costco. I make my own spaghetti sauce. I only buy bread with basic ingredients (luckily Costco carries a great whole wheat bread without all the junk for only $3 a loaf). And I actually try to make my own bread more often than buying it. Daisy sour cream (truly just cultured cream) instead of western family with its unpronounceable ingredient list. Plain yogurt that we sweeten at home with fruit and honey. It costs a little more but I know it's the best choice for my family. 

And I'm far from perfect. I still splurge on Lin Lin potstickers, the occasional frozen pizza for the kids, and I have a hard time giving up cold cereal (I do only buy cereal where the first ingredient is whole grain and not corn). I know I have a long way to go, but like I said baby steps. 

Eating whole grains is fairly easy for us. The kids do get excited if they get to eat a sandwich on white bread. And I do love white flour tortillas. And if I'm making Kalua pig and panipopo, you better believe I'm making those rolls with all white flour.  But for the most part, whole grains are the easy part for us. 

Sugar on the other hand, not so easy. I'm kind of torn on this subject. If I'm making a delicious dessert and splurging, why not just use good old a fashioned processed white sugar? I bought the organic raw sugar and tried it, but really it's still sugar, its still processed and it still has zero nutritional value so why waste my money? We've omitted fake maple syrup from our diet. I use honey to sweeten many things. So in general we eat less sugar, but I'm still not all on the no sugar train. 

But I'm still looking for ways to cut back but still be able to satisfy my many many sweet teeth I have. So tonight I had a fridge full of ripe pears that needed using, and I thought I would try a naturally sweetened pear crisp with all clean ingredients. And I think the result turned out fabulously. 

The pears were so naturally sweet and juicy, the crisp was exactly what a good crisp is supposed to be - crispy, lightly sweet and a perfect compliment to the hot, juicy pears. I think this recipe is a definite keeper. But I'd love to hear what you think. 

Pear Crisp the Clean Way

Filling:

6 c peeled ripe sliced pears (home canned would also work as long as they were canned in juice or super super light syrup. I make mine with a 10% sugar solution and I figure that would be ok, but fresh is obviously better).

2 T lemon juice

2 T apple juice concentrate (basically sugar, but I figure its better than just putting in table sugar)

Topping:

1 1/2 c old fashioned rolled oats

3/4 c whole wheat flour

1 cube cold butter, cut in cubes

1/4-1/2 c honey

1 t cinnamon 

1/2 c unsweetened flaked or shredded coconut

1/2 c pecans 

Combine filling ingredients in a bowl and pour into a 2 qt baking dish. 

For topping combine oats, flour, cinnamon and butter in food processor or mix with pastry cutter until mixture resembles course crumbs. Add in honey and combine until clumpy but not too sticky. Mix in pecans and coconut if desired. Mixture should be moist but not like a batter. This is where you need to watch the honey. Drop over filling to cover but don't press down. 

Bake at 375 for 30-35 minutes. Pears should be bubbly and crisp should be brown and crispy. 

Lime Basil Chicken Salad

I had an abundance of fresh basil growing in my garden and was in the mood for a fast, fresh meal. The Lime Basil Chicken Salad hit the spot. 

I found the recipe for the chicken on Pinterest and was deciding how to serve it. When I looked in my fridge and noticed all the garden fresh produce, I knew a salad would compliment it perfectly. 

I marinated the chicken for a few hours, grilled it, sliced it, mixed it with the basil dressing And put on top a bed of fresh greens, cucumber and tomato (avocado would have been splendid addition). I topped the whole thing with a roasted tomatillo ranch dressing (which in itself was divine).

Lime Basil Chicken Salad

• 3 Limes (juice and zest) Divided
• 3 T Olive Oil
• 1/4 Cup Extra Virgin Olive Oil
• 3 T Dijon Mustard
• 3 T Worcestershire Sauce
• 3 T Soy Sauce
• 4 Cloves Garlic Minced, Divided
• 3 T Chopped Basil
• Salt and Pepper to taste
• 2 lbs Chicken Breasts

Instructions

1. Combine the zest and juice of 2 limes, Olive Oil, Mustard, Worcestershire, Soy, 2 garlic cloves salt and pepper in a gallon ziplock. 
2. Cut chicken into even cutlets and place in a gallon sized baggie.
3. Mix marinade and chicken, squeeze out all air and seal. Let marinate 1-8 hours. 
4. Preheat grill.
5. Place chicken on grill and grill for 7 minutes.
6. Then flip and cook until internal temp reaches 165.
7. Remove from grill and let meat rest.
8. Meanwhile combine juice and zest of one lime with extra virgin olive oil, 2 minced garlic cloves, basil.
9. Slice chicken into bite-sized pieces and pour sauce over top.
10. Serve atop a fresh bed of greens and other garden veggies for the world's greatest summer salad. 

Roasted Tomatillo Ranch

2 parts Daisy sour cream, 

2 parts buttermilk,

1 part mayonnaise, 

2 tablespoons of my homemade ranch mix ( parsley, onion powder, garlic powder, salt, pepper) 

2 roasted tomatillos. 

Combine everything in a small food chopper and blend until smooth. 

The chicken was simply awesome-moist and flavorful. The fresh salad was crunchy and great. And the creamy dressing just put it all together.  I will definitely be making this again and again.

Original recipe for the chicken can be found at http://goodenessgracious.com/2012/01/basil-lime-chicken.html

 

Stained-Glass Christmas Cookies

I tried a new Christmas cookie recipe and loved it. The cookies are super cute, tasty and the kids loved them. The original recipe can be found here.

Stained Glass Cookies Recipe

Ingredients

• 1/2 cup (1 stick) butter
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1/4 cup brown sugar
• 1 tablespoon molasses
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 egg
• 2 cups flour
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 3/4 teaspoon baking powder
• 30-40 hard candies (such as Life Savers), preferably in several flavors/colors

Method

1 Pre-heat oven to 375°F. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper or Silpat.

2 In a large bowl, using an electric mixer, cream together butter and sugars until fluffy, about 2 minutes. Add molasses and vanilla extract, mixing until incorporated. Add egg and mix until light and smooth, about 1 minute on medium speed.

3 Sift together flour, salt, and baking powder. Fold dry ingredients into wet mixture. Use electric mixer to blend just until flour is incorporated. Divide dough in half and flatten into two disks. Wrap disks in plastic wrap and refrigerate at least an hour and up to 2 days.

4 Remove any wrappers on candies and separate them by color into plastic bags. Using a mallet to crush candies.

5 Place one disk between two large sheets of waxed paper and roll to 1/4-inch thickness. Use cookie cutters to cut dough into desired shapes. Transfer cookies to prepared baking sheets, about 1 inch apart. Using a smaller cookie cutter or a knife, cut shapes into centers of cookies, reserving these center bits to add into extra dough.

6 Use a spoon to sprinkle the crushed candy into the hollowed-out centers of the cookies, filling to the edges. Try to keep the candy within the centers. Any candy specks that fall on the cookie will color the cookie.

7 If cookies will be hung as ornaments or decorations, poke a small hole in the top of each cookie before baking.

8 Bake 9 to 10 minutes. The candy should be melted and bubbling and the cookies just barely beginning to brown. Remove baking sheets from oven and place on wire racks to cool. Allow cookies to cool on pans at least 10 minutes; otherwise, the candy centers may separate from the dough. When cookies are completely cooled, remove and store in an airtight container. String with ribbon if you want to hang as an ornament.

Makes 2 to 4 dozen cookies, depending on how large you make them.

What's for Dinner?

I haven't cooked a good meal or tried a new recipe in a while. I know, I am pathetic, but hey on the bright side, we have enjoyed our summer.

I am itching to try something new. So for dinner tomorrow I plan to make:

• Cold Sesame Noodles a new recipe. I may add chicken
• Shrimp and Coconut Rolls an awesome recipe I've made once before and I have a fresh coconut I need to use
• Stir Fry Veggies

Details to follow.

New York Feast

Tom recently went to New York City with his family. I got to stay home with my sweet kids and play with my sister while he was gone. I decided I wanted a taste of New York, so when he came home I made a New York City feast. The meal was delicious and I almost felt like I was there.

Reuben Sandwiches, Waldorf Salad, Sweet Potato Fries and New York Cheesecake

Now Reuebn sandwiches didn't actually originate in New York. They are actually from the midwest, but I figured any great deli sandwich is New York cuisine. I was especially excited to make the Reubens with my homemade sauerkraut (more on that in a different post).

But a basic Reuben is: rye bread, thousand island dressing, pastrami, sauerkraut and swiss cheese. I grilled the meat, topped with cheese and put on bread with thousand island and grilled the whole sandwich. Oh my goodness they are awesome! 

Tom actually stayed in a hotel just a block or 2 away from the Waldorf Astoria Hotel where the salad originated. I was suprised at how tasty Waldorf Salad is.

The basic ingredients are chopped apple, chopped celery, toasted walnuts, red grapes. Toss those in a simple dressing of mayonaise and lemon juice (I used lime). Salt and pepper to taste and serve over a bed of lettuce. Super delish.

And any meal finished off with a cheesecake is amazing! I use my Grandma Brownrigg's cousin's recipe. I don't think it is actually a New York Cheesecake, because I think those tend to be dry and the Fishers like theirs nice and moist and slightly undercooked.

Llewelyn's Cheesecake

Crust

1 package graham crackers, ground finely

1 cube butter, melted

1/4 c sugar

Combine and press into bottom of springform pan. chill

Filling

2- 8 oz pkgs cream cheese, room temp

2/3 c sugar

2 eggs, beaten

1 t vanilla

Blend well and and pour into crust. Bake at 350 for 20 minutes. You want it soft and slightly jiggly. Let sit 15 minutes.

Topping

1 c sour cream

2 T sugar

1 t vanilla

Gently pour over top and bake for 10 minutes at 425.



Meatless Monday: Acorn Squash and Turnip Soup

I received an acorn squash (which I like) and 4 giant turnips (which I don't love) in my Bountiful Basket recently. The squash sat on my counter for 2 plus weeks and the giant turnips sat untouched in my produce drawer. I finally decided I needed to use them up. I remembered a link on the Bountiful Basket Facebook page for a turnip-butternut squash soup from All Recipes. I found the recipe to get a base for my soup and then just kind of flew by the seat of my pants. I think it turned out delicious.

Acorn Squash and Turnip Soup

2 T butter

1 T olive oil

1 sm onion, diced

3 c acorn squash, peeled and cubed

3 c turnips, peeled and cubed

2 cloves garlic

3 c chicken stock

2 c water

1 t chicken base

1/2 t nutmeg

1 c cream

salt and pepper

Sautee onion and veggies in butter and oil. Add garlic. Add stock, water and base. Simmer until veggies are soft. Blend with hand mixer or in batches in blender. Add nutmeg, cream and salt and pepper to taste.

We served it with a simple spinach salad and homemade half whole wheat rolls.

Meatless Monday: Pasta Fagioli and Zucchini Pancakes

One Monday morning I was running on my treadmill and I started watching the Cake Boss's cooking show. I can't stand the guy, but he was making some fun sounding meatless dishes that I happened to have all the ingredients for (thanks to Bountiful Baskets).  So I decided to suffer through his annoying mannerisms to get his recipes for Pasta Fagioli and Zucchini pancakes. I adapted them a bit to work for me so here are my recipes.

Pasta Fagioli

1 sm onion, chopped

2 carrots, sliced
1 stalk celery, chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
4-6 c water
1 4 oz can tomato paste

2 cans kidney beans, drained

parmesan rind ( I didn't have this so I topped with parmesan)
salt and pepper to taste
1 lb pasta, cooked al dente
fresh spinach or kale (i forgot to put this in :(

Sautee onion, carrot and celery in olive oil. Add water, tomato paste, kidney bean and parmesan rind if using. Simmer until veggies are soft. Add pasta and simmer 15 or so minutes. Add more water if needed. Remove rind. Salt and pepper to taste. Add spinach or kale and cook 5 minutes.

Zucchini Pancakes

2 zucchinis (or yellow squash), grated

1 clove garlic, minced

1/4 c onion, finely chopped

1 T italian seasoning

1/3 c italian cheese (parmesan, romano, mozarella)

2 T flour

2 eggs

salt and pepper

Squeeze squash of excess liquid. Combine all ingredients and sautee in vegetable oil until browned.

These were both super simple dishes to prepare, super delicious, super healthy and meatless.

Shredded Wheat Muffins

You know when you eat a box (or bag if you are in to malt-o-meal like I am) of shredded wheat, frosted or not, you always end up with a bunch of shredded shredded wheat crumbs. My kids like to call it magic dust and they will gladly pour the stuff in their bowls.

But my amazing friend Jenny gave me a better use for the stuff: Shredded Wheat Muffins.

I've made them twice now in two variations. I made an orange-cranberry muffin and an apple-cinnamon with streusel topping. I did have troubles with my muffins collapsing in the center. I'm not sure why. Should I add another egg? More baking powder? But regardless, they tasted great!

Jenny's Awesome Shredded Wheat Muffins

3 c Flour

1 + cup shredded wheat magic dust

2 T baking powder

2 t salt

1 c brown sugar

2 eggs

1 1/2 c milk

1/2 c oil

Mix dry ingredients. In separate bowl mix eggs, milk and oil. Add to dry mixture and stir just until moistened. Fold in filling.

filling and spice

        Apple Streusel Muffin

        2 c chopped apple

        3 t cinnamon

        1/2 t nutmeg

        streusel topping (1 c brown sugar, 1 c oats, 1/2 c flour, 1 cube cold butter cut in, 2 t cinnamon)

        Cranberry Orange Muffin

        2 C chopped cranberries

        zest and juice from 1 orange

        Blueberry

        2 c frozen blueberries blended with 1/2 c yogurt

        2 t cinnamon

Spoon into muffin tins (don't overfill). Bake at 375 for 20-25 minutes.

       

    

Meatless Mondays

What a great idea. Tom and I try to consume less meat. We aren't vegetarians by any stretch of the imagination, but we do try to be frugal with our meat consumption, especially red meat. I found this blog post about meatless mondays and a number of great meatless meal ideas.

So starting this week, we are going to incorporate meatless mondays into our menu planning. On Monday we had wild mushroom and cheese ravioli served with a simple romaine/spinach Simple, yet delicious. I am excited to try more meatless meals.

Hurray for Bountiful Baskets! With a fresh variety of fruits and veggies every other week (or every if you prefer), I am bound to have some great options for meatless meals.

What are your ideas for meatless monday?

Chicken-Zucchini Bake

Here is a super easy, super healthy dinner. My friend, Ty, introduced it to us and we love to make it. It is easily adapted to what you have on hand as well.

Chicken-Zucchini Bake

1 lb. chicken breasts, pounded thin or chicken tenders
1-2 zucchinis or yellow squash, thinly sliced
1 can diced tomatoes or 3 small tomatoes diced
1/2 onion, thinly sliced
fresh or dried basil
salt and pepper and seasonings to taste


Spray casserole dish with Pam. Season chicken with salt and pepper and garlic powder. Layer in casserole with zucchini and onions. Top with tomatoes and basil. Bake at 350 for 30 minutes until chicken cooked through. Top with cheese if desired for last few minutes, but it really doesn't need it and why ruin the uber-healthiness. Serve over brown rice.

Chocolate-Cinnamon Gelato Revisited

I made Bon Appetit's Chocolate-Cinnamon Gelato again. Wow! It is worth every calorie. Just thought I would repost the recipe because it the perfect time to enjoy this divinity. We enjoyed ours on the patio on a perfect Sunday afternoon after we devoured carne and pollo asada. I love Summer!!

Click here for the original post and recipe. i omitted the toffee chips and used semi-sweet chocolate chips. Next time I will cut back a little on the sugar as well. And of course I still quadrupled it and put it in my big ice cream maker.

Does it mean I am Nesting if..,.

I feel like cooking again?

I have to admit that I have been so lazy and neglectful this entire pregnancy. My family is lucky if they get 2 real meals a week. We literally eat cold cereal or eggs and toast at least once a week, each. It has been bad.

I keep telling Tom that once the babe arrives, it is all going to get better. I am going to go back to cooking 5 meals a week. I will blog regularly and post fun recipes. I will workout and actually make progress with my athletic endeavors. (Working out is the thing that has least suffered this pregnancy. I don't always feel like doing it, and I don't do it as often or as intense as I would like, but hey I am pregnant.) I will keep a clean house, ok who am I kidding, that has never really been a reality, pregnant or not.

Tom just rolls his eyes at me and says ok. He has been the best trooper. He has suffered through lack of meals, lack of a clean house and a lazy wife really well. He cooks. He cleans. He lets me sleep in every morning while he readies the children for school. I am one lucky girl and I will make it up to him, someday.

I think I will start by trying some of these recipes I have recently found (I have been so lazy and haven't felt like cooking that I haven't even been looking at new recipes, but I feel like it now.)

Pioneer Woman's Homemade Glazed Doughnuts



Pioneer Woman's Salted Caramel Brownie

Culinary Bliss's Chocolate Ice Cream

Who am I kidding? These recipes will be more satisfying to me than to him. Oh well.

Chile Rellenos with Roasted Tomatillo Sauce

So with the yumminess found in my first experience with Bountiful Baskets, I made chile rellenos. They are my all-time favorite Mexican food, but they are always hit and miss and restaurants, so I don't order them too often.

My Mexican Pack came with 4 giant, dark green poblano chiles. They were beautiful and instantly called out to me that they wanted to be made into chile rellenos. Luckily for me, I had a plethora of other Mexican produce to compliment them and an awesome friend/chef just posted a recipe for a tomatillo sauce. The pack had all the necessary produce.

I altered her recipe a tiny bit. I think I used 8 tomatillos. I didn't use the sour cream (although I might if I was using it as a dressing), I just used olive oil. I added some roasted onion. I added one roasted chile (I don't know what kind it was and I wasn't sure how spicy it was. It was yellow and about the size of a jalepeno.) Next time I'll add two. And I just roasted all the veggies, including the garlic, on my grill. The sauce was what really made the rellenos awesome.

Now for the actual Chile Relleno recipe.

4-5 Poblano Chiles (Anaheim also work well, and I used one plain old green pepper for the kids)
Filling
8 oz. cream cheese
1/2 c. grated cheese (Jack or any mexican cheese are best, but I ended up using cheddar)
1 clove garlic, minced (I should have roasted another 1 or 2 cloves for the filling)
handful of chopped cilantro
2 T chopped onion (I should have roasted that as well)
salt to taste
Batter
4 eggs, separated
flour
salt

Roast the whole poblanos on the grill until the skin is nice and blackened all over. Place in a paper bag and close for 15 minutes. Remove skin from chiles and carefully deseed, if desired. (I left two with seeds for Tom and extra spiciness. Mine without seeds had the perfect level of heat.)

Mix filling ingredients. Carefully slit each chile and stuff with filling and fold back closed.

Whip egg whites until stiff peaks form. Fold in yolks. Dip each filled chile in flour with a bit of salt and shake off all excess. Dip in egg batter and immediately fry in skillet with hot oil. Fry until golden brown on each side and filling is hot.


Serve with Roasted Tomatillo Sauce, Mexican Brown Rice, gaucamole and fresh corn tortillas.

Bountiful Baskets Rock!

So if you've never tried, or heard of, Bountiful Baskets, you need to get involved. It is a food co-op that delivers great local and regional produce at a can't be beat price. For $15, you get a big box of random seasonal produce. They also usually offer extra produce (such as bushels of peaches or a mexican variety pack) for a great deal. It is super fun to see what you get and to figure out what to do with it all before it goes bad.

This was the first time I have tried it out, but I think it was well worth the money. I did have to drive 40 miles to get the stuff, but I rationalized because I was picking up 8 boxes for all my friends. I am working on getting a pick-up closer to home.

Here are the goodies from my first week. I figure the standard basket, which cost me $15, contained $20-$25 worth of produce had I bought everything on sale. Do you see those persimmons. I have got to find a fun recipe to use them up.

The Mexican pack cost me $7.50 and contained $10-$15 of awesomeness. Do you see all those chiles, three varieties?. Chile rellenos were cooked last night, and let me tell you, they were wonderful.

So if you live anywhere in Arizona or in Northern Utah or Cedar City you need to check out their web site and get involved.

My Go To Dessert

English Trifle has always been a favorite dessert of mine. I remember requesting it as a kid and bringing it to school as a treat. It is easy to make and just makes me happy.

The basic ingredients include: cake, pudding or custard, jell-o, and fruit. I love my trifle bowl, we got for our wedding, and it gives me yet another incentive to make the dessert. I just use what fruit I have and layer all the goodness in the tall, glass bowl. Make it early in the day, so it has a chance t o set-up a bit and chill thoroughly.

Here is my basic recipe for

English Trifle

2 large packages pudding, prepared according to package.
I like "cook and serve" better, but instant works just fine. Typically I use vanilla, but I have used lemon as well.
2 large jell-o, any flavor, prepared according to recipe, but don't let set-up.
4-5 cups fruit, fresh or frozen.
Strawberries, peaches, raspberries and blueberries are great choices. Bananas are good too, but get mushy after the first day.
1 angel food cake.

I layer cake, jell-o before it has set, pudding, fruit and repeat 2-3 times. You can top with whipped cream, but I usually don't. Let it chill for a few hours so the jell-o sets up.

Enjoy!

Layered Brownies with White Chocolate Caramel

I need to make up for all the calories I have been burning working out.

My sister, Suzanne, spent the week with me two weeks ago and discovered this brownie recipe in the latest Bon Appetit.

The were not necessarily easy to make, but I think they were well worth the effort, especially since it was my sister making most of the effort. I also think the recipe could be greatly simplified. The brownie layer was simple and delicious. The white chocolate caramel was not as easy, but was divine. The caramel crystallizes when the cream is added and it took a while reincorporate all the bits back into creamy caramel. I think if you added the cream very slowly it might work out better. The ganache was simple and very good. Our pecans didn't candy very well, but were still great. I think it might be easier to just bake the pecans with sugar until they candy.

Simply moist and dark brownie plus creamy, sweet white-chocolate caramel plus rich, dark and smooth ganache plus crunchy candied pecans equals heaven on a plate.

All in all, a great recipe and an even better brownie. I am still eating a small brownie every night a week later and they still taste great.

Click here for the recipe. I doubled it, by the way.

Vanilla Cake with Strawberry Cream Frosting

I just found this post half-written. I thought I lost these pictures, with the rest of mine on my computer a few months ago. Woohoo! This is a great summer cake. I have only made it once, but my sister makes it often now and even brought it camping. It is scrumptiously delicious.


This cake was so delicious and beautiful and fun to make. I got the recipe from Bon Appetit, May 2009. They don't always have the recipes online and this one is not, so you should be grateful I am sharing it.

Vanilla Cake with Strawberry Cream Frosting

Frosting
2 8-ounce packages cream cheese
1 c butter
4 c powdered sugar
1/2 c strawberry jam
3/4 c heavy whipping cream

Using electric mixer, beat cream cheese and butter in large bowl until smooth. Beat in sugar then jam. Beat cream in medium bowl until peaks form. Fold in whipped cream into frosting. Cover, chill until firm enough to spread, about 2 hours.

Cake
3 c cake flour (I've read you can use 7/8 part all purpose flour and 1/8 part cornstarch)
3/4 t salt
1/2 t baking powder
1/2 t baking soda
3 c sugar
1 c butter, room temp
7 large eggs
2 T vanilla
1 c sour cream
6 T plus 1/3 c strawberry jam (I used homemade)
2 1/4 lbs. strawberries, hulled, sliced and divided

Preheat oven to 325. Butter and flour (or use pam) two 9-inch cake pans with 2 inch high sides. Whisk flour, salt, baking powder and soda in a medium bowl. Using electric mixer, beat sugar and butter in a large bowl until fluffy. Add eggs, one at a time, beating to blend after each addition. Beat in vanilla. Add sour cream, beat 30 seconds. Add flour mixture in three additions, beating to blend after each addition. Divide batter between pans.
Bake until toothpick comes out clean, about 50 minutes. Cool in pans on racks for 10 minutes. Turn out of pans and cool completely.

Assembly
Using serrated knife, cut each cake horizontally in half. Place one half, cut side up, on a cake plate. Spread 2 T jam over, then 3/4 c frosting. Top with 3/4 c sliced berries. Repeat two more times. Top with remaining cake layer, cut side down. Spread 2 c frosting over tops and sides in a thin layer to coat completely. Spread remaining frosting over tops and sides. Spoon remaining jam on cake and swirl decoratively.


I always worry about layer cakes, because mine never seem to turn out very well. This one, thanks to the help from Eliza and tips from the magazine on how to perfect layer cakes, actually turned out prettier than I had hoped for. There was no picture in the magazine for me to work from, but I just followed the instructions and wa-la!

What I liked about this dessert is everything, but specifically I loved-

• The moist pound cake with simple vanilla flavor, lots of eggs and butter equal delicious cake.
• The frosting. It was full of strawberry flavor and had a nice fluffy texture, thanks to the whipped cream folded in.
• The fresh strawberries in each layer added some extra strawberry yumminess and a wonderful bite.
• It was beautiful and the tips really helped me make my first successful layer cake.

Sorry about the poor pictures. I took most of them at my parent's house, and I don't like their lighting.

Pickles!!!

I have had a great harvest of cucumbers and tomatoes so far this year, for which I am very grateful. But I was getting kind of tired of eating cucumber and tomato salad. So, I decided I would try to make pickles, of the bread and butter variety. I am not especially fond of dill pickles, Tom doesn't like any type of pickle, and I love sweet pickles but never buy them, so i thought perfect opportunity to make sweet pickles.

My cucumbers are lemon cucumbers. They look very different from your standard cucumber, but taste very similar. I love yellow and think they are cheerful.I searched the internet for a recipe that used ingredients I already had and came up with a fun recipe. It called for salting the cucumbers, chilling them, rinsing them, making a vinegar-sugar-spice syrup, boiling the cukes and canning them. Click here for the original recipe.


Many of the recipes I was finding used "pickling lime" to help make the pickles crispy. Next time, I may try it, but I was happy with the crispness of my pickles just using kosher salt (I didn't have pickling salt, but the recipe said subbing kosher salt is fine). I didn't use all the spices the recipe called for because I didn't have them all. I did use cloves, allspice, mustard seed, red pepper flakes, cinnamon, and then I threw in pickling spice to make up for the ones I was missing. I one and halved the original recipe and got 5 pints.

I am excited that I finally made pickles and may even make another batch with my next big harvest.